Final Moments
by Soulhunger
Summary: What happens when a Metroid attacks?
1. The End

Disclaimer: Nintendo owns the rights to anything from the Metroid series.

1. The End

A room with an artifact. A thing of glass and metal, of design and function. A prison without escape. Dreadful creation of man! Thing of evil! But then, a falling sensation. A chip. A crack. A fissure. Shattering. Freedom! Free, at last, from that horrible, disgusting, confining, Hell!

---

John Baker, Galactic Federation marine, sits eating dinner. Cold, soggy french fries and a cheeseburger with a stale bun. Tasty. Looking at the view, the green, rolling hills of Lackinda V remind him of Earth. He realizes that his fifteen minute break only has five left. "Hey, John," Bill says, looking over at him.

"Yeah?"

"After our shift tonight, we should go check out the new art museum. They're having the ribbon cutting ceremony and everything, and we should be able to make it in time. You know how much you like art."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that was tonight. I've been waiting for months to see that museum, but work's just been distracting."

"Well, let's head on back to our posts," Bill says, standing up.

John is excited. That museum is apparently going to have some of the best works in the galaxy. He follows his friend to the laboratory, and they stand guard. "Sitting in one spot can be so boring," he thinks. He wants something to happen to break the monotony. The museum is a good thing to look forward to. He'll just bear with it until then.

A noise comes from the lab. "What was that?" Bill asks.

"I'll go check it out," John says, now hoping for a little enjoyment. He wants find another tricopod running around inside. Excitement to pass the time. He leaves his weapon behind and steps in through the door, and sure enough, the little rascal is in there. Tricopods are like our squirrels, except they have three legs instead of four, no tail, and are purple. They're pretty hard to catch, though, despite only having three legs.

"C'mere, little guy. I won't hurt you." John inches toward the frightened alien critter. It suddenly leaps away and runs into another room. "Damn little thing. Just you wait, I'll get you," he mutters, following it. But in the next room, there's a disaster. "What the..."

The metroid's tank is laying on the floor, broken. Those stupid scientists must have forgotten the force field! And that stupid little animal must have knocked over the tank! John knows he must go get help to get the metroid into a new container. He can't do it alone, especially without his weapon. He checks around quickly, to see if he can spot it. "Screw it, we'll find it when I get back with a team." The metroid floats down in front of him as he turns around to leave. It screeches, and charges forward, latching itself onto his face. John emits a muffled scream. Knowing the procedure, he slowly struggles toward the emergency freezer, built just for such a crisis. His steps are slow, but he'll make it before he dies. Barely. Then his foot finds the running tricopod, smashing it. The fluids make him slip and fall. By now, he doesn't have enough energy to get up.

---

Bill hears a noise from inside the building. John went in to bring out the tricopod, he's probably running into the walls trying to catch that thing. But then, a screech. "A metroid...? Did it escape?" He starts running into the laboratory to help his friend.


	2. Friends

2. Friends and Family 

John Baker's mind is racing. "This can't be happening. Not now. Not to me..." His thoughts slip back into his childhood.

---

"Hi, I'm Billy. You wanna be my fwend?"

"Umm... Okay! I'm Johnny. Pleased to meet you. That's what my mommy always says. Pleeez-ta-mee-cha."

Johnny Baker was attending his first day of kindergarten. He had never seen so many other kids his own age! The teacher, Mr. Lee, had the class sit down. Johnny walked over to his new friend and sat beside him. Mr. Lee announced, "Okay, class, today we're going to learn about sharing. I'll pass out three toys, and you all have to let eachother use them equally, okay?"

Billy got a wooden train, and started playing with Johnny. They drove the train over a pile of books, and slammed it into a shelf, laughing. Then there was a voice from behind them. "Gimme that train. I want it. Gimme, gimme, gimme."

"No. We want it, Zek. We got it first," Billy said, turning around. He was face-to-face with the towering seven-year-old Zek, who had failed his first year, and was now the class bully. He reached out, grabbed the train from Billy's hands, and walked away. Billy started crying and reaching his arms out. "I want. My. Twain," he said, sobbing. Johnny knew enough about right and wrong to know this wasn't right. He walked up to Zek, challenging him.

"Give it back, Zek. Now," Johnny said, his eyes narrowing. He reached out and grabbed the wooden toy, pulling it back. But just as he pulled, Zek pushed, sending Johnny backward. He fell, and hit his head on a desk with a loud "thwok". His vision blurred, and faded to black. Thick, red blood started to pool around his head. The class stared at Zek.

"I didn't do it!" he yelled frantically. "He fell on his own, I swear, he just fell, I didn't do it!"

"What is going on here?" Mr. Lee demanded. He looked down at the bleeding Johnny. "Whoa, hey, kid are you okay? Is that blood? Oh, God... Stay calm, kids, I'll call an ambulance."

In spite of the teacher's orders to stay calm, Zek was panicking. "Really, he just fell, I saw it. You all saw him, right? He tried to steal my toy. He's just faking. Get up. Stop pretending," he shrieked, shaking Johnny.

Mr. Lee could be heard across the room, talking on the phone. "A kid just hit his head on a desk, and now there's blood everywhere, and he's not moving... Wellworth Elementary... Uh, six I think... Yeah, I can check." He put the phone down, and jogged to the boy's unmoving body. Zek was still shaking Johnny, saying strings of words in self defense. "Move, Zek. NOW!" the teacher yelled. He put his ear against Johnny's nose, and could hear breathing. Mr. Lee jogged back to the phone. "Yeah, he's breathing... Okay... A concussion?... Okay. Thanks," he finished, hanging up. He walked back to Johnny to make sure his breathing stayed steady until the ambulance arrived.

---

Johnny woke up in an ambulance. His head felt like it was going to explode from the pain. He groaned and stared up at two paramedics. "Hey Jim, he's awake," one said.

"Stay calm, Johnny, everything will be all right," the one called Jim said. Johnny could feel a big bandage on his head. He remembered... A wooden train.

"Did Billy get his train back?" he asked. The two paramedics looked at eachother quizzically.

Jim spoke. "Yeah, sure, everything is okay. Just stay calm, kid, you'll be fine." Good, Billy got his train back. That's all that mattered.

---

They arrived at the hospital, and took Johnny inside, wheeling him along on the gurney. The paramedics took him into a room and moved him onto a bed. "Don't worry, kid, you'll be okay, just sit here and wait. Can you do that, champ?" Jim asked.

"Okay," Johnny replied. The two left, and a doctor came in shortly afterward. He checked a clipboard, muttering something to himself.

"Concussion, huh? Okay, Johnny, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as possible. Can you do that?" He started writing something on his clipboard.

"Uh huh."

"Okay, how does your head feel?"

"It hurts."

"Okay." He wrote something on the clipboard. "And how's your vision?"

"Fine."

"Okay." More scribbling. "Can you hear a ringing in your ears?"

"No."

"Okay, and can you remember what happened?"

"Yeah, Zek stole Billy's train."

"Okay, what else?"

"I went to get it back, but he pushed me."

"Hmm, okay. Do you think you can stand up? I'll make sure you don't fall." Johnny stepped down off of the bed, suddenly feeling off-balance. He started to fall forward, but the doctor caught him. "Okay, you'll need to lay down for a bit. Your mom and dad will be here soon, so just sit tight for a while."

Johnny was taken into a room with other kids all laying in beds. Most of them had bandages too, but not just on their heads. Some had leg and arm casts or neck braces. The bed he got was next to a girl with a cast on her leg. She looked about his age. "Hi, I'm johnny. Pleased to meet you. That's what my mommy says. Pleeez-ta-mee-cha."

The girl looked over. "My name's Eva. What happened to you?"

"I fell."

"Me too." She looked a bit scared. "I was just climbing my favorite tree yesterday... Then I fell and broke my leg. They say I just need some rest."

"Oh, me too Everyone in here needs rest," Johnny said. They both stayed silent for a while. Johnny's parents soon came in, cooing pity and worry. But the doctor came back in, and they rushed over to him to ask how their son was doing.

"Well, he seems to have suffered a minor concussion. He should be fine," the doctor said frankly. "He'll just need some rest. He should be more careful, though. If he were to receive another concussion within a few weeks, it could be much more severe."

Johnny stared blankly at the ceiling.

---

Back to school after a few days of recovering, Johnny found Billy in his desk. "Johnny! Aw you okay?" he said, mispronouncing "are".

"Yeah. I hit my head."

"I know. Zek did it. He got susplended."

"He tried to take our train."

Ten minutes before class, the door opened. In wheeled the girl from the hospital. "Eva!" Johnny shouted. "You go here too?"

"Yeah, I broke my leg. Hey, you're that boy from the hospital."

"Yep, and my head is all better now. Hey, me and Billy are sitting over here. Come sit with us."

"You mean Billy and I."

"What?"

"Never mind."

They sat, talked, learned, and lived.


End file.
